 Robots are just in advanced form of automation, and for that reason they are evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Take the history of food production. Two million years ago, we were hunters and gatherers just like all the other animals on the planet. Then, about ten thousand years ago, we invented agriculture. By raising the crops and the livestock, we reduced the amount of time needed to find the food. We developed tools, farming tools. The tools became bigger over time. We employed animals to pull the tools. The animals gave way to powerful machines. With every step we took, the farm workers became more productive. We needed fewer of them to raise our food. And now, the robots themselves are driving the machines. Or more precisely, the machines are driving themselves. The humans are relegated to the task of monitoring the machines in the field. In the U.S., a farmer feeds 120 people, compared to about 10 less than a century ago. The result? Food is much more affordable, especially to the poor. There was not rampant unemployment. The displaced workers moved into new industries to provide us with things like health care and education. So will robots replace us? Yes. And someday, we'll thank them for it. We'll have new jobs, jobs that are safer, more engaging, better matched to our strengths. But we must remain committed to working with our workforce to evolve them over time. The robots of yesterday were performing very scripted tasks, like welding and stamping. They required the installation of expensive infrastructure. They were very difficult to reconfigure, and they were too dangerous for human workers to be near. The robots of today can see, they can move, they can talk, they can solve problems. They can venture into far less structured environments than their predecessors to do things like underground mining. They are more flexible, they are more configurable, and they are a better match to their human counterparts. We need to build human robot teams that leverage the strengths of both. Robots are good at mind-numbing operations, repetitive operations, operations requiring vigilance. They bring speed, strength, and accuracy to the table. They can assume any form and operate in any environment. Humans are good at dexterous manipulation, deep understanding, creative problem solving, common sense, and effective communication. In spite of what you've heard, robots lag very far behind in this area. We are now able to assemble robots and human teams working together in a safe manner. But I must point out that co-location is not essential for these teams to form and be effective. By leveraging the power of the internet and telepresence, we can now assemble teams that draw from robots and human experts all around the planet to bring the right expertise to bear to solve a particular work task. Meet the doctor who performs operations on patients in other countries. Or the mine worker who has never actually been inside a mine. Through advances in artificial intelligence, machine learning, and computer vision, the robots are becoming more aware. They are understanding their own limitations, and they know when to ask for help rather than just fail catastrophically. With this new capability, it's possible to deploy them into difficult environments, taking on very difficult tasks with less than perfect capabilities. With the confidence that they will know when they are in trouble and stop and ask for help. The humans will assume mentoring roles. They will do things like manage, monitor, and troubleshoot. They will deal with unusual circumstances that are challenged for their robot counterparts. They will do this perhaps from the comfort of their own homes, while the robots, half a globe away, will slog it out in the trenches. As the robots gain knowledge and capability, the human workers' jobs will change. They will work on new tasks with new robots in new environments. As a society, we must prepare them for this career journey. I think the opportunities outweigh the risks.